Magical Beginnings
by Rocketrider
Summary: Ten years later, Stacy looks back on the day she found true love. Chapter 2 now up!
1. Stacy's Story

Magical beginnings  
  
Summary: Ten years later, Stacy looks back on the day she found true love.  
  
Daria and all its characters are property of MTV. I don't own them, and I'm using  
  
them without permission—Nyeah Nyeah : )~  
  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This will be kind of hard to understand unless you've seen "Life in the Past Lane."  
  
  
  
…Withdraws like a bashful maid  
  
Who runs away when attention's paid  
  
--Upchuck, from "Life in the Past Lane"  
  
  
  
I pick up the photograph. We were so happy that day! I was the typical "blushing bride" and he was just as charming as ever. In the adjoining frame is a torn ten dollar bill. The same ten dollars that bought my happiness—and our love.  
  
"Beauteous maidens, may I show you something that will astound and amaze?" It was Charles. No mistaking that. The Fashion Club turned around anyway. They weren't really interested in what he had to say, but they'd never miss a chance to ridicule him. "Only if it's a disappearing act." Sandi said haughtily. God, she was always such a bitch! Charles then proceeded to do his ripped-bill trick, and even though she wouldn't admit it, Sandi was still impressed. Of course when I showed my interest in it she used the chance to insult me. "Oh Stacy, you are SO naïve. He obviously used mirrors or something."  
  
Over the next couple of weeks, I couldn't help thinking about Charles. I really wanted to know how to do that trick, but was that the only reason he was on my mind? I finally got up the nerve to approach him, but he wasn't telling anything. "Oh how I wish I could quench your curiosity my pet, but I cannot reveal my secrets. It's the magician's code." " But I have to know how you did it! I can't get it out of my mind!" I know I must have sounded kind of desperate. I couldn't help thinking that I should have said I can't get YOU out of my mind.  
  
The next day at school he really surprised me. "Stacy!" he yelled. I almost hit my head on my locker door. "Hi…" I said hesitantly. I gave him a sheepish smile after looking around quickly to see if Sandi was anywhere nearby. "What's going on?" "I'm doing a magic exhibition next Saturday, and I need a lovely assistant. From where I'm standing, I can't see anyone lovelier than you….grrr!" I probably should have been offended by his cheesy Casanova act, but it was kind of cute. "Well, I don't really have anything else to do. I mean I have a Fashion Club meeting earlier that day, but other than that…" I was starting to ramble. I always ramble when I get nervous, and for some reason that simple request was making me nervous as hell. Finally, I managed to blurt out "Sure! I'll do it!" "Good—we have to rehearse, so I'll see you tomorrow night…and hopefully many nights after that." "Sure, ok, see you then" It was hard to make up excuses to Sandi for being late to meetings, but I was getting tired of her better-than-everyone-including-God attitude anyway.  
  
"Behold an approaching quartet of lovelies. It appears my 'magic mojo' is working overtime. Hi—Stacy." "Uh, hi!" I giggled nervously. As much as I hated myself for it, I was still embarrassed to talk to Charles in front of Sandi. I kept telling myself that one day I was going to tell her exactly where to shove the damn Fashion Club and all her back issues of Waif. When it came right down to it though, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Sandi's voice broke through my daydream. "Did you just say hello to Upchuck, or was that a hiccup?" I had to think fast "Must be all the diet soda I've been drinking." God, I was so spineless! Why couldn't I just tell her that over the course of the week Charles and I had started dating? What was she going to do? Kick me out of the Fashion Club? Big freakin' deal. She could write her own damn minutes. Oh well, I was going to get a little bit of revenge on Saturday.  
  
The big day was finally here. "Are you ready, my sweet?" Charles asked. "Um, yeah, I guess so." I tried to sound confident, but I was really worried. Would I be able to cry on command? Would I remember my lines? Charles must have seen the insecurity in my eyes. "Stacy," he said, reverting to his normal voice for once, "You're going to do fine, I promise." Then he kissed me. My first real, true kiss. It was amazing. After that kiss, I felt like I could do anything. The show went off without a hitch. Everyone played their parts perfectly. I went into hysterics right on cue, and Mr. DeMartino and Ms. Barch did so well that you couldn't even tell they were acting. Now it was revenge time. Of course the Fashion Club had their snide comments about my "failure." I expected this and was prepared. "Good thing Upchuck's buried alive in there so you won't have to spend the rest of your life searching for revenge for the way he's humiliated you in front of the whole school." With that, I took my hands away from my tear-streaked face to show a wide smile. "Oh Sandi," I said mockingly, " You are SO naïve!" The look on Sandi's face was priceless!  
  
I look again at the ripped ten-dollar bill. One dollar for every year we've been together. Who would have thought you could get so much for so little?  
  
This is my second journey into Daria fanfic territory. Almost all of the direct quotes are taken from "Life in the Past Lane," and events from IICY are disregarded. Please R & R. Send any comments, questions, and especially praise to Rocketrider2k@aol.com 


	2. Upchuck's Story

Magical beginnings  
  
Summary: Ten years later, Stacy looks back on the day she found true love.  
  
Daria and all its characters are property of MTV. I don't own them, and I'm using   
them without permission-Nyeah Nyeah : )~  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This will be kind of hard to understand unless you've seen "Life in the Past Lane."  
  
  
  
...Withdraws like a bashful maid  
Who runs away when attention's paid  
  
--Upchuck, from "Life in the Past Lane"  
  
Part 2: Upchuck's story  
  
High school. Can any of us say we were truly happy there? I couldn't, that's for sure. Everywhere I turned there was another girl waiting to reject me. After awhile I just got tired of it and decided to give them a reason to hate me. That's when the "Casanova" act started. I knew it was annoying, but since the girls didn't like me anyway I figured it didn't matter. Hell, maybe one of them would think it was funny and decide I wasn't such a loser after all. As it turned out, my plan backfired-severely. Oh well, it was too late to drop it now. I don't remember who saddled me with my unfortunate nickname-Upchuck. It seemed that's all I was to anyone. Just a big pile of puke. That is until Stacy came along.  
I first noticed her when I was a Sophomore. She was a Freshman, and she looked unusually nervous to me. Of course I would soon learn that she always looked nervous. It was just part of her personality. When she got together with the fashion club I thought I had lost my chances with Stacy for good. Sandi Griffin took charge of everything, including who they could and could not date. With my honor student status and my obviously unfashionable looks, I sure wasn't going to make the cut.  
I stole looks at Stacy anyway. That was a mistake. Once Sandi caught me, and I had to endure her full wrath. "Um EXcuse me, Upchuck. WHAT do you think you are doing?" Time to turn on the charm. "Well, if it isn't the lovely Ms. Griffin. To what do I owe the pleasure of being addressed by such an exquisite example of feminity?" "Can it, Upchuck. Were you or were you not staring at Stacy just now?" How was I going to answer this one? My vocabulary deserted me. "Um, well, I wouldn't exactly call it staring..." I stammered. "Well, I would, and if I ever catch you staring at a Fashion Club member again, I will personally see to it that you are never able to produce any Upchuck Juniors." I hung my head. I knew Sandi wasn't God, but she had a way of making anything she said sound way more threatening than it actually was. I was walking away in despair when I heard Stacy's voice. "Um, Sandi, don't you think you were-I don't know-maybe a little too tough on Charles? I mean, you know, after all, we WANT boys to stare at us, right?" "Stacy, did I just hear you defend Upchuck? Maybe you don't LIKE being in the most popular club in school." "Of course I do, Sandi, it's just that..." "There will be no more talk of Upchuck nor any more questioning how I run this club. Is that understood, Stacy?" "Yes, Sandi." Stacy looked away, about to burst into tears. She looked up, and our eyes met, just for a moment. It was enough. I was hooked.  
The next two years were more of the same. More rejection, more loneliness, and more bitchiness from Sandi anytime I ever got near the Fashion Club. To fill my steadily increasing amount of spare time, I took up magic. I rented instructional videos and watched all of those "masked magician" specials where they revealed the secrets of the good tricks. It took quite a bit of practice, but I was actually becoming an astute magician. I moved on from the card tricks and slight of hand. I was ready to try something big. I was going to escape form a locked box.  
It certainly wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. I almost killed myself a number of times before I got it right. As busy as I had been with my newfound hobby, I had barely noticed what a beautiful woman Stacy had become. She was a Junior now and no longer a little girl. I finally decided that I would go out with her this year or die trying. With Sandi around all the time I was dreadfully afraid that it would be the latter. I had no idea how to approach Stacy without leaving her or myself vulnerable to a Sandi attack.  
As it turned out, I didn't' have to approach her at all. I was performing a street exhibition of my magical skills when fortune smiled on me. I had just acquired ten dollars from Mr. O'Neill, and I was about to treat myself to lunch when the Fashion Club happened by. "What the hell," I said to myself "Might as well give it a shot." "Beauteous maidens, may I show you something that will astound and amaze?" Sandi, in her usual good humor, shot back an insult about me performing a disappearing act. Ms. Griffin, I thought, If I was going to make anyone disappear you would be first on the list. I ignored her and ripped the ten-dollar bill into pieces. Boy, did that get their attention! All four of them gasped. I did my restoration trick, and they liked it-even though they would never admit it. Sandi and Quinn made some smart-assed comments and walked away. Tiffany, always the follower, tagged along behind them. Stacy hung back for a minute though. She had a look of puzzlement and admiration on her face. I gave her my best smile, followed by a wink, and continued on to lunch. I was feeling great. Good thing I had that other ten!   
Two weeks went by, and I was beginning to give up hope. I thought that I had finally made a connection with Stacy, but maybe I was wrong. I closed my locker and was on my way to class when Stacy ran up to me. "Charles, can I talk to you for a minute?" I was shocked that she was doing this in the middle of school, especially since I had seen Sandi about ten feet away from us. I wasn't about to point that little tidbit of information out to Stacy, though. "Certainly Ms. Rowe. How may I help you today?" "Well, it's about that thing you did with the ten-it's driving me crazy!" Can you please show me how you did it?" Ok-I finally had her full attention. I needed to keep it. "Oh, how I wish I could quench your curiosity my pet, but I cannot reveal my secrets. It's the magician's code." "But I have to know how you did it! I can't get it out of my mind!" My heart sank just a little. She only wanted to learn the trick. She didn't' want me. I couldn't let her know how disappointed I was, so I made up some junk about mermaids and fudge sauce. Could I be any cornier?  
At school the next day I made up my mind to repair any damage I may have done with my stupid mermaid comment. "Stacy!" I must have startled her. She looked around-probably checking for Sandi. The coast must have been clear because she answered me. "Hi...What's going on?" I told her about the magic show I was doing Saturday and that I needed an assistant. To my delight, she agreed to participate. "Good," I smiled. "We have to rehearse, so I'll see you tomorrow night...and hopefully many nights after that." Oh my God! I'd said that last part out loud! I gave her a quick glance to catch her reaction. Surprisingly, she seemed not to notice.  
Stacy arrived at my house at seven the next night. I could only imagine what she was telling Sandi to get out of the Fashion Club meetings. "Hi Stacy. Ready to get the show on the road?" The next week was pretty intense. We had the act down pat. Stacy was a great actress! The show wasn't the only thing that was going well. During the time we had spent together at rehearsals, Stacy and I had fallen in love. Neither of us could deny how we felt anymore, and we didn't care who didn't like it. We went to dinner every night after practice, and once we even blew off rehearsal completely to catch a movie. There was some tension at school the Friday before the show, though. I said hi to Stacy when she was with the entire Fashion Club. I didn't think it would matter if they knew now. When I overheard her denying that she had replied with a smile and a wave, I felt like she had kicked me in the stomach. I confronted her that night. "What the hell was that little remark about the diet soda for, Stacy?" She was taken aback. "Charles, you know how I get around Sandi-she scares me." "Then maybe you shouldn't be around her," I shot back. "Are you going to let her dictate your actions for the rest of your life?" "You don't understand-the Fashion Club is the only reason anyone knows who I am! Without it I'd be-" "You'd be a lot happier, Stacy. You don't need them. They treat you like dirt and you stand there and take it. You're better than that." "You're right," she whispered through tears. "You're absolutely right." "Come on," I hugged her, "You need to rest. We have a show tomorrow after all."  
Stacy was a wreck when she came backstage the next day. She did her best to look calm, but she didn't fool me for a minute. "Stacy," I looked her right in the eyes "You're going to do fine, I promise." She was so close to me, I just couldn't help myself. I kissed her. Not a little peck on the cheek, but a full-fledged kiss. The first kiss of the rest of our lives.  
The show was great. Stacy even stood up to Sandi! We continued to see each other and we married right after she graduated. Last week, for our anniversary, I gave her a double picture frame. One side held our wedding photo and the other held the ten-dollar bill I had ripped up. I had saved it all those years. I knew that it would have special meaning to us one day. For ten dollars, I bought a fantastic future. Just think, I had only intended to buy a pizza!  
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You wanted more, you got it! I hope you like it. I tried to resolve some of the holes left in the first part. Please R & R. Send any comments, questions, and especially praise to Rocketrider2k@aol.com 


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